FFAS to hold Long Term Development Plan workshop

With that plan now expiring a new one will take its place and that new LTDP wil be formed during a workshop on Dec. 3 & 4, 2010 that will be overseen by FIFA Development Officer Glenn Turner, Win In Oceania Project Manager Vairani Davio and OFC Deputy General Secretary Greg Larsen.The planning participants will be President Iuli Alex Godinet, club presidents and FFAS Secretariat. An opening ceremony will be held 3 p.m., Tradewinds Hotel on Dec. 3 followed by a dinner with the club president’s and their spouses.The workshop continues on Dec. 4 at the Tradewinds Hotel’s conference room. All club presidents are being put up for two nights at the hotel for this workshop.“I am very excited about this opportunity to map out the plans and strategy of our association for the next four years under the FFAS umbrella,” pointed out Iuli. “When the current plan was formed and adopted it was under the Normalization Committee but this time it will be different.”“I am happy to say that the prioritized objectives of the current LTDP have been met!” declared FFAS CEO Tavita Taumua. “We have year-long competitions and the staff to meet the demands of these competitions, programs and the development of the sport in American Samoa.“I look forward to brainstorming with everyone this weekend on our strategy for the next four years.”“I’m excited knowing that our association’s goals for the next four years set down in the new LTDP will be one created by our administration, along with our member clubs’ leaders, their presidents,” Iuli explained. “It’s a huge task but in the past four years we’ve made leaps and bounds in achieving most of the current LTDP’s targets. I am extremely confident that whatever we produce out of these two days will be targeted with the same determination as that of the past four years!”The targets of the current LTDP include grassroots Youth Football; Men’s competitions; Women’s Football; Refereeing; Medical; Futsal; Planning & Administration; Marketing & Media and Infrastructure.The current LTDP vision is “To be the number one sport in the country — participation & popularity, well managed to deliver efficient & effective services & programs to members, and provide opportunities for all participants to achieve at the higest level and improve profile and ranking in the Oceania region.”Some of the achievements Taumua highlighted from the current LTDP are:Youth Football — Increasing its popularity, registering and maintaining a database.Men’s Competitions — Increasing opportunities to play such as a yearlong calendar of competitions; registering players and maintaining a database; standard rules & regulations for all competitions.Women’s Football — Promoting women’s football (soccer) and increasing the number of players; yearlong competitions with standard rules & regulations; appointment of a Women’s Football Development Officer.Technical Development — Educating and qualifying coaches at all levels and increasing their numbers; establishing & circulating annual calendar of courses and programs; appointing Development Officers.Refereeing — Train & qualify referee instructors; provide resources for programs and courses; educate & qualify referees at all levels.Medical — Appoint football medicine experts; collaborate with EMS for presence & assistance; establish basic football medicine facilities & equipment at the ‘Academy.’Futsal — Promote Futsal, increase numbers & provide information to play; assist clubs with basic equipment; establish competitions and provide opportunities for males, females — schools, clubs & nationally.Planning & Administration — Achieving harmonized election process; establish national headquarters for permanent secretariat under a Football Coordinator (CEO); establish management & staffing structure.Marketing & Media — prepare realistic marketing strategies — implement & service ‘partners; appoint media officer; establish good relationship with media.Infrastructure — Strengthen relationships with DOE; equip & maintain HQ & Football Academy to a high standard; appoint & train facility maintenance personnel; identify other playing fields; maintain positive relationships with providers of other playing fields for activities & competitions.“These are just some of the many achievements that we are happy about and it all comes from teamwork between the president, executive committee, club presidents, members, myself and my staff,” Taumua said. “That’s the only way we can achieve our plans and strategies, teamwork, and that’s what we need from everybody to achieve the new LTDP for the next four years.”

About FFAS

A territory with just 70,000 people and an area of 199km², American Samoa is traditionally strong in sports such as gridiron, basketball and baseball but football is starting to take over these popular pastimes. The strength of the game is at the youth level where Football Federation American Samoa (FFAS) has worked hard to establish competitions within schools. Under the tutelage of President Iuli Alex Godinet.